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Tuesday, 30 December 2008

Rioting: 2001

On 9 July 2001, The Daily Mail reported thus:

"David Blunkett was under pressure to arm police with water cannon last night after Britain's worst rioting for 16 years. The calls came after 1,000 mostly Asian youths armed with petrol bombs, crossbows and bricks, rampaged through Bradford, firebombing buildings in 12 hours of violence...

Trouble had flared at 4.20pm on Saturday when National Front members... clashed with Asian youths who had attended an Anti-Nazi League rally. Two white men were stabbed before the focus for violence shifted to the suburb of Manningham as police cleared the city centre. The rioters' targets were random - among the buildings set alight were a Labour club, a Conservative club, two car showrooms, shops and pubs...

The rioting was the worst in Britain since the 1985 Tottenham riots, which ended in the murder of PC Keith Blakelock.

Some community leaders believe there was a pre-planned element and claimed it was led by 100 or more Asians intent on stirring up trouble. One source said youths were driving around with bricks and baseball bats, looking for violence...

Mohammed Riaz, a Conservative ethnic affairs adviser and former Manningham councillor, said about 200 Asians had been inciting others into throwing stones and bricks.

'If the purpose of these youths is to try to defeat the National Front and defeat racism, this is not the way to go about it. This has put race relations in Bradford back by ten years... We were urging people all day not to give the fascists what they wanted by turning their aggression on to their own community, but the message was not heeded...

A total of 36 people were arrested, 23 white and 13 Asian. All but two were from Bradford."

Get it?

"1,000 mostly Asian youths armed with petrol bombs, crossbows and bricks, rampaged through Bradford, firebombing buildings in 12 hours of violence... Two white men were stabbed."

And yet, according to The Mail, of the 36 people arrested, 23 were white and only 13 were Asian.

Below we see a white boy attacked by Asians in Bradford and the same boy receiving medical attention after being stabbed.

The only woman to be charged in connection with the Bradford riots was mother-of-four and 'former' prostitute, Bernice Dunn.

She was caught on CCTV camera throwing rocks at point blank range at a policeman, who was wrestling with a man on the floor.

"The officer, PC Mark Simpson, was badly bruised and his protective helmet was dented and split."

Stephen Wood, defending, stated that Dunn had been drinking and had taken heroin before she got involved in the riot. Which is no excuse at all in my book.